What I remember an elephant ear being when I was a kid and what others consider an elephant ear may be two completely different things. But the ones I had when I was a kid were large, round, flat, crunchy pastries with cinnamon sugar on them. They sorta looked like the ear of an elephant, and were my absolute favorite treat from the local bakery. I'm guessing you know what a funnel cake is (or as we call them here in Wisconsin - "Cow Pies"), so I won't go into detail with that. But I think the main difference is that cow pies are puffy and soft while elephant ears are flat and crispy.